Tennis | Men’s and women’s teams win against Jackrabbits, lose to Creighton

During Spring Break, the Saint Joseph’s men’s and women’s tennis teams made their way to Orlando, Fl. to play matches against the Creighton Jays and South Dakota State Jackrabbits on March 10 and 11, respectively. While both teams found success against South Dakota State, they both also struggled mightily against Creighton, winning only one game combined in their matches against the Jays.

The Saint Joseph’s women’s tennis team split matches this spring break with a 7-0 loss to Creighton on Wednesday and a 4-3 win against South Dakota State on Thursday.

Against Creighton, St. Joe’s could not find a winning formula, as most of the team dropped their games in straight sets to the Blue Jays. Maggie Mullaney, ’11, and Nicole Esposito, ’13, however, were both able to take Creighton to three sets, but ended up losing 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 and 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, respectively.

In the doubles matches, the Hawks had even worse luck; they were swept by Creighton in each game in only one set. With the team finding little success, Creighton easily defeated the Hawks by a score of 7-0. With such a rough day behind them, St. Joe’s looked for a rebound against South Dakota State on Thursday.

The Hawks found much more success against the Jack Rabbits on Thursday. In the singles matches, Jhennifer Kedzierski, ’10, Mullaney, Esposito, and Tara Walsh, ’12, all took their matches in straight sets, with only Kate Dowd, ’12, and Melissa Glick, ’12, losing their matches.

In the doubles round, the team of Kedzierski and Mullaney was able to get an 8-4 win over the Jackrabbits, while the teams of Walsh and Esposito and Erin Malafronte,’11, and Glick both lost by a score of 8-1.

The men’s tennis team faired only slightly better against Creighton on Wednesday. Unlike the women’s team, the men’s team was able to pull out one victory in the singles round, as Lucho Perez-Abreu, ’10, was able to win his match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.

Aside from that, the only person to win a set was Nick Tuxen, ’10, who lost his match 6-7, 6-3, 18-16. The rest of the team was taken swept in straight sets, and all three doubles matches were also losses in one set. At the end of the day, the men’s tennis team found themselves losing 6-1 to Creighton.

The next day, the men’s team was able to find the winning formula, much like the women’s team, beating South Dakota State by a score of 4-3.

Up next for the men’s tennis team will be a match against Dayton at the St. Joe’s tennis complex this afternoon followed by a trip to Bethlehem, Pa. to face off against Lehigh on Saturday, March 20. Up next for the women’s tennis team will be a match against University of Maryland Baltimore County on March 24.